January 6: “We Come Over The Fence On The Way To Jail”

1949:Tragedy stalks the guardroom of the police station at Young Street, Spanish Town, when Constable Morgrage, in his mid-twenties with a mere 21 months’ service in the force, arms himself with a .38 service revolver and decides to settle scores with a group of superior officers who had been witnesses against him in recent departmental trials for irregularities. Within a few minutes, Inspector Charles Henry Malabre and Sergeant S. McCaw lay dead in the guardroom.

1952: Mr. R. Aquart, chairman of the Lower Yallahs Valley, announces that Public Works Department engineers are to start an immediate survey of the Yallahs River in St Thomas, with the intention of cutting a channel for a river to follow. When completed, the channel will be buttressed on both sides by concrete groins to stop the river from running all over the Yallahs Valley and washing away the land.

1954: A proposal to appoint a five-man committee to investigate the possibilities of erecting additional stalls around Victoria Park was made at a meeting of the Corporation Council Trust Committee. These stalls are to accommodate peddlers who are being removed from King Street by the police.

1954:A cricket fan, who possessed rare prowess at pole vaulting, decided to use his athletic ability to race today’s play in the colony match at Sabina Park via illegal entry over the South Camp Road fence. He was good enough to clear the wall but landed beside a six-foot policeman. “How we coming, officer?” asked the newcomer. “We come over the fence on the way to jail,” says the policeman as he grabs at the man who eventually slips away and hides in a crowd. He is pursued by the policeman and is en route to jail the minute he is held.

1966: The first board for the registration of teachers under Section 32 of the Education Act (1965) is appointed by the minister of education, the Hon Edwin Allen. All teachers who are actively engaged in the profession would be permitted to teach until such time as legal registration become effective.

1977: Horace Clarke, minister of public utilities, announces that schoolchildren in the Corporate Area will pay five cents for bus fares, and those who live in the Portmore area will pay 10 cents . Schoolchildren will be required to carry ID cards and the taking of photographs will begin in schools soon.

1980: The new prices for gasolene, kerosene and cooking gas (propane), comes into effect today, with motorists being required to pay 80 cents more per gallon, at prices of $4.65 for premium and $1.55 for regular.